There are 2.5 jobs in Ridgeland for every working resident, and 23,326 people commute in
About one in five work in Ridgeland itself; outside it, Jackson draws the most (35%, 8 miles). 25,080 jobs are based in Ridgeland, against 10,230 working residents. Ridgeland grades B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Ridgeland apart
Ridgeland is where the jobs are
Ridgeland has 25,080 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 40,000 people are in town, 60% more than the 25,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Ridgeland works one town over
40% of working residents work in a town that borders Ridgeland: Jackson (35%) and Madison (5%). Next door ↓
Most Ridgeland residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Ridgeland are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Mississippi worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Ridgeland: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ridgeland is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #19 of 99 in Mississippi. Job access by car holds Ridgeland’s grade up (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($66,038, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ridgeland could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
The daily commute in and out of Ridgeland
On a workday 8,476 residents head out to work and 1,754 work right here.
About 40,000 people are in Ridgeland on a workday afternoon, 60% more than live here.
2.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How far it is to work from Ridgeland
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 21 minutes each way for Ridgeland’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ridgeland workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,489 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Mississippi: 87% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where the people who work in Ridgeland live
Where Ridgeland clocks in
35% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Ridgeland
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ridgeland, 2013 → 2023: 21,254 → 25,080. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ridgeland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Ridgeland, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ridgeland is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #48 of 101 in Mississippi. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 1.8% across Mississippi.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,724 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 2% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.2% of Ridgeland households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ridgeland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ridgeland is 992nd of 1,642 U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Madison MS | 28,575 | $119K | 4.8% | 2.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 705 | Hernando MS | 18,824 | $77K | 8.8% | 2.5% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 820 | Ocean Springs MS | 18,993 | $80K | 5.5% | 4.2% | 23% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 990 | Wooster OH | 27,115 | $67K | 9.2% | 3.8% | 39% | B |
| 991 | South Kingstown RI | 32,009 | $109K | 8.9% | 6.7% | 27% | B |
| 992 | Ridgeland MS | 24,750 | $66K | 9.9% | 4.1% | 17% | B |
| 993 | Belton MO | 26,193 | $69K | 9.7% | 4.8% | 10% | B |
| 994 | Richmond Hill GA | 20,022 | $93K | 8.8% | 5.8% | 11% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ridgeland, the top three, the last and three more from Mississippi.
Work next door: 40% of Ridgeland’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Jackson. Darker towns draw more of Ridgeland’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ridgeland: questions
What is the median household income in Ridgeland?
$66,038 (±$2,963) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ridgeland?
9.9%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ridgeland?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ridgeland work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (35%, 8 mi), Flowood (7%, 8 mi), Madison (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ridgeland walkable?
Ridgeland is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ridgeland without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ridgeland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ridgeland
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.